torsion springs replaced - 207 to 243

[silvermullet]

Hello members,

as you can see, i have just registered and am eager to get some help for you wonderful people.

as the thread title indicates, i had a torsion spring break on me. it was a 207 spring, 2" diameter, and 24" long. a local garage door company recommended that i go to 243 size springs as i would get longer life from them. as they were going to charge me $200 for the springs, i decided to buy them online for less than $100 w/ winding bars.... fast forward to installation.

so i installed them and wound them to 7.5 turns (and Yes, i know its dangerous and under extreme tension, etc... i am very careful) on each side. after releasing the vice grips and clamps to test the door, the door opened up by itself. and is very difficult to bring all the way back down again manually. i realize that the tension is too high. I have tried lessening the tension on the springs, but when i do that, the cables lose tension about 2/3 of the way up.

is it just a matter of finding the right # of turns? im afraid that a 243 spring may be too big for my garage door. but was told that it should work. which is a standard residential 7x16 steel, insulated double car garage door. 275lbs. the new springs are .2437, 2" diameter, 29".

Hope im not confusing anyone. any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[gdoorpro]

springs

You can always use a larger wire diameter spring, the problem with jumping 4 wire sizes is that you need to go significantly longer on the overall length of the spring. The important thing when ordering a spring is not the wire size, it is the IPPT's (Inch pounds per turn) You had the turns right you probably need at least 7.5 turns. the problem was instead of having 22.5 IPPTs like your origional spring, you had over 40 IPPT's. enough for a door almost twice as heavy as yours.

In order to use 2" I.D. and .243" Wire, you would need a spring that is 52.25" long. This would generate a spring that should last well over 100,000 cycles. Your origional springs were already a longer life spring than the industry standard of 10,000 cylces on new doors. So If you send those back and get something for a much lighter door you will be better off.

IN Omaha, you could get the work done for you for under $200. Call around, someone will probably be willing to do it for you wherever you are as well for very near that.

Ryan

[silvermullet]

You can always use a larger wire diameter spring, the problem with jumping 4 wire sizes is that you need to go significantly longer on the overall length of the spring. The important thing when ordering a spring is not the wire size, it is the IPPT's (Inch pounds per turn) You had the turns right you probably need at least 7.5 turns. the problem was instead of having 22.5 IPPTs like your origional spring, you had over 40 IPPT's. enough for a door almost twice as heavy as yours.

In order to use 2" I.D. and .243" Wire, you would need a spring that is 52.25" long. This would generate a spring that should last well over 100,000 cycles. Your origional springs were already a longer life spring than the industry standard of 10,000 cylces on new doors. So If you send those back and get something for a much lighter door you will be better off.

IN Omaha, you could get the work done for you for under $200. Call around, someone will probably be willing to do it for you wherever you are as well for very near that.

Ryan

thanks for the insight... that makes sense... im going to just replace the springs with the same size 207 springs. would you recommend this? im guessing that would be safe bet. the 207's are even an upgrade to the originals that were on there when i bought the house.

[gdoorpro]

Yes, the 207 spring wire you have is a long enough life span spring. You may want a new door when they break again anyway. Ryan